Youth Speak News

BRAMPTON, ONT. - A group of Brampton high school students are finding out if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen — and away from the cameras.

Rogers TV is going into the kitchen at Brampton’s Cardinal Leger Secondary School where hospitality and tourism students star in a new reality TV series, Cardinal’s High School Cafe. The show features Grade 12 students operating all aspects of an upscale bistro, and it’s not just the kitchen that gets heated.  

The show first aired on Sept. 3, the opener of a six-episode season that features mainly five students, one per episode, and the challenges and struggles they encounter on the job and with each other. Episode six is the season finale where the students cook at their principal’s house for administrators. It airs Oct. 8.

“I want to keep the suspense, but all sorts of things go wrong on that episode,” said Kerry Greco, the show’s community producer and the school’s hospitality and tourism teacher.  

Greco, after 20 years experience in the hospitality and tourism industry, including owning her own pub and restaurant, started teaching English when she first entered the education field. But when she realized that tourism and hospitality would be offered, she wanted to make students aware of the opportunities available to them.

She had approached Rogers about giving students a chance to show off their culinary skills, which landed students the gig of cooking demonstrations on daytime. Then Greco pitched the idea of reality TV.

“Students who are not always successful in the traditional academic environment can really thrive in the hospitality program,” Greco said.

The first student to be featured on the show, Chris Kelloway, discovered the joy of cooking at age 10.
In Grade 10, he enrolled in the Hospitality and Tourism Specialist High Skills Major program and stayed until Grade 12.

“I just had a passion for cooking and putting all my creativity into dishes I had made,” he said.

At the bistro, Kelloway and the students in the program served students, faculty and local community members, including seniors from a nearby residence.

Greco tapped into funds available for students enrolled in the Specialist High Skills Major in hospitality and tourism, and that’s how the cafe, equipped with an industrial kitchen, was built.

“They learn what it is to actually serve in the exact same manner that they would if they were working in a high-end restaurant,” Greco said, a lesson that includes dealing with conflict in the kitchen.

But Kelloway’s favourite aspect of the experience is how they “all co-existed together in one team” to ensure “customers had a great experience.” He has no regrets.

The biggest challenge the students faced, running a fast-paced restaurant, remains the same whether or not they were on camera, said Greco.

“There’s always challenges with making sure that the food is executed to the tables properly and the service is executed properly.”

But the cameras did cause additional stress.

“The best part of the program is that it forces students to really be the star of their own life.

“If you’re there and you’re on camera doing the show, you’re accountable for everything you do,” Greco said.

Off-camera, one of Greco’s past students went on to attend Chef Gordon Ramsay’s culinary academy in London that offers a Cordon Bleu diploma. And since filming season one of the show between February and June, his last semester at Cardinal Leger, Kelloway has graduated and is now beginning his career in culinary management at George Brown College.

“My most treasured story, the very first graduate from the program was the first from her entire family to graduate from high school.

“And I think that’s why the program is there, because she was able to visualize the success that she could have in a very real way,” Greco said.

The bistro is open every Friday at the school for all three lunches, with quality meals such as New York steak on the menu for about $7 or $8.

Cardinal’s High School Cafe airs Monday nights at 11 p.m.

The Catholic Register is pleased to introduce our new Youth Speak News team. These 14 young people were selected from a record number of applicants to The Register's successful YSN program.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TV star Nathan McLeod is taking his talents from the small screen to the church.

McLeod will lead the band Look Out Below at the Oratory Youth Concert Sept. 21 at Toronto’s St. Vincent de Paul parish.
Known for his role as Gabe, the hot older brother who loves dishing out girl advice to his younger brothers on YTV’s Life with Boys, McLeod’s abilities go beyond acting. Performing in musical theatre since he was nine, the 18-year-old plays the guitar and piano, but thinks of himself as a singer first when it comes to his musical skills.

These skills will be on full display when McLeod headlines the Oratory Youth Concert.

McLeod is a Catholic and said he was attracted to St. Vincent de Paul’s Latin Mass and has been commuting to Toronto from Oakville to attend the service since last summer. McLeod has performed in other churches before, but this is his first time doing so at St. Vincent de Paul. He plans on performing Christian rock, praise and worship and original songs. 

“Every song that I write has a story behind it and God’s always been a really big part of my life,” said McLeod, “so His influence completely affects what I write about, even in my secular music.”

One of the original songs he plans on performing at the youth concert, “Stand Tall,” is about God helping him through being bullied in elementary school. McLeod will also perform “Unborn Baby,” a song he wrote for his older brother Nicholas. The elder McLeod is active in the pro-life community and is currently studying in seminary with plans to join the priesthood, says his younger brother. 

McLeod first turned to songwriting at age 12 when his grandmother Rose Sliger died of a severe form of Parkinson’s Disease. McLeod recalls Sliger as “the luckiest woman in the world” who would always beat him at board games and who taught him about patience.

“Till her dying day she was the toughest woman I knew. She was for sure a great example for my life,” he said.

“Growing up in music theatre, music was always a big part of my life that when something tragic and something that affected me so much as my grandmother dying, it really encouraged me to want to write her a song, which was the reason I learned the guitar.”

With guitar in hand, McLeod will be playing with Look Out Below, a group of five friends from the Etobicoke School of the Arts. 

“We respect Nathan as a singer,” said band leader Sanjay Parker, who classifies his band’s sound as funk dance music.

Parker says they can’t guarantee they all will play together in the future, “so we want to play as much as we can now.”

The concert, organized by St. Philip Youth, will have young acts performing for their peers.

“I believe God is sending me on this journey of music to be in  a position of power so that I can be a good role model and bring about change,” McLeod said.

My younger brother isn’t what I would call “cultured.” An 18-year-old on a boat cruise around Europe has priorities other than discovering the famous basilicas or the incredible detail in their paintings and sculptures. Before our trip last month, my mom and I talked a lot about whether or not Aidan would care to see — much less appreciate — all of the sights. How much groaning could we put up with while we bounced between pieces of history in these old Europeans cities? A fair bit, it turns out.

But something changed when we visited the Vatican. The complaining gave way to a flurry of questions our tour guide tried to answer before my brother interrupted with another question. He forgot how tired and hungry he was, how much his feet hurt or how comfy his bed was back on the cruise ship. He was totally immersed in the magnificence of the city. It seemed obvious to him that St. Peter’s Basilica wasn’t just another old church.

But that’s exactly what it is: an old church. St. Peter’s just happens to be a very important old church. After all, the entire state of the Vatican was built around it.  

The Vatican’s importance as the epicentre of our Catholic faith is lost on most 18-year-olds. They may know some details, but it’s much tougher to grasp the weight they carry. I thought the Vatican was just another old church too.

When I looked at pictures of St. Peter’s Basilica, I could see it was big, but I couldn’t see it was magnificent until I was standing in it. Similarly, a Google image search of the Sistine Chapel won’t make you feel the way you do when you’re looking with your neck craned back at the scenes painted on the ceiling. You don’t see the care, detail or incredible talent it took to create it. You don’t feel the intangible, indescribable something that makes the Vatican more than a big church until you walk through its museums and feel it for yourself.

It’s the art that creates this wonder. “It makes you think about human potential,” our tour guide mused while looking at the detail along every foot of the ceiling in St. Peter’s. People — young people in particular — are drawn in by it.

Amidst all the facts about the scaffolds they used or Michelangelo’s age when he carved the Pieta, there is a narrative. The art tells the story of our faith, capturing its divine messages and old parables. The art creates the questions which lead to discussion. Questions like why was the man who pierced the side of Christ canonized?

From there, the messages of our faith spread between curious onlookers, even after they leave the city. The difference between the art of the Vatican and many other efforts to spread the same messages is one of esthetics. The art gives onlookers only two options: stand in silent admiration or ask questions about it.

But the answer is just a bonus. Spiritual enrichment comes from all the people there who are doing the same thing. There is a sense of solidarity that transcends age, race, sex and even religion. Anyone can appreciate the art, regardless of whether they subscribe to the beliefs embedded in its narrative. That is what makes the city holy. That’s why St. Peter’s is more than just another old church.

This article was amended on Sept. 26, 2012 to remove a quote attributed to Fr. Carlos Martins.

TORONTO - York University students now have the option of a new extracurricular activity: Catholic campus evangelization.

York’s Catholic chaplaincy launched Apostles on Mission this summer, a six-session program designed to teach students how to minister at the university. Planned and run by chaplain Fr. Carlos Martins and associate pastor Fr. Ben St. Croix, the program targets “the more spiritually mature students,” Martins said. But the invitation remains open and any student is free to join.

These student evangelizers “are going to minister on campus and be an extension of the Catholic chaplaincy in the hallways and in the corridors,” Martins said.

The curriculum covered the Catholic Church’s teaching on evangelization, what exactly evangelization is, why evangelize, whom to evangelize and elements of how to pray. Misconceptions of the Catholic Church and how to defend the faith were included. The sessions also covered effective ways to give a testimony and how to start a conversation with a stranger. It’s about “how to approach somebody in a situation where you don’t know the person and to do so in a way that makes the person you’re approaching comfortable and feel safe,” Martins said. “We (Martins and St. Croix) are members of the Companions of the Cross. This is our bread and butter.”

York has about 55,000 students. Its main Keele campus is where the Apostles on Mission will volunteer a minimum of two to four hours a week, but Martins promises that the skills learned through the sessions can be applied anywhere.

This month, the Apostles on Mission will begin to to provide Catholic resources and provide information on what the chaplaincy has to offer. The students also have the option of running Bible studies.

“We’re trying to make people aware that there is something here that is being offered that they may appreciate and desire,” said Martins. He does not want people to be treated as potential converts, with their individuality disregarded as a result.

The plan is “we’re throwing seed out,” said Martins.

“Undergirding our belief here at the chaplaincy is the belief of the Church that God has prepared the hearts of those who will receive His message to respond to Him.”

The sixth session took place on Aug. 23 and allowed participants to practise their conversion story or testimony. 

Lolita Akimana was looking for a Catholic student group when she joined the chaplaincy at York. She has been to two Apostles on Mission sessions. She is unsure how she is going to approach students, but feels ready to share the word of God. In her conversion story or testimony, she spoke about growing up in the African country of Burundi. 

“I used to go to church with friends, but I didn’t really know God,” she said.

She has four siblings and her father died before she was born. Akimana asked Jesus to be her father and He provided, she said. For her, God no longer seems abstract.

Akimana’s testimony, said Martins, is an example of Christ filling a need in one person’s life.

Martins anticipates the student evangelizers will face two main challenges: time and lack of confidence. The pressures of school leave students little free time, he acknowledged. And though he’s never encountered hostility on campus in the year that he’s worked at York, evangelizers will need self-assurance to help them deal with any hostility or potentially bad experiences.

“They’ll come away learning about themselves and learning about the faith,” Martins said.

The main Apostles on Mission sessions have been recorded with the hope of making them available to students as a training program. And interest from students who were unable to be on campus during the summer has Martins interested in training more students during the academic year.

“Students have risen to the challenge,” he said.

Alexandra Jezierski is hoping to enlist the help of 100,000 letter writers to influence Prime Minster Stephen Harper and members of Parliament to support a motion that would open debate on when an unborn child becomes a human being. 

The Grade 12 student from Kingsville, Ont. began her Letters4Life campaign in support of Motion-312, Conservative MP Stephen Woodworth’s private member’s motion to open a debate on when a human life really begins.

“We’re hoping it (Motion-312) will help Canada to recognize the humanity of our unborn children,” Jezierski said.

The goal is to send 100,000 letters to the prime minister and MPs asking them to vote in favour of Woodworth’s motion. The letters are tracked online where visitors to the Letters4Life web site can input the number of letters they have sent. By late August, the online letter count was just above 58,000.

Visitors to Jezierski’s site can also choose from two available letter templates: one specifically for Motion-312, the other asking the prime minister to re-open the abortion debate. Jezierski has higher hopes for the effectiveness of the former.

“When Motion-312 came up, I realized that it’s easier to ask our government to do something in increments,” said Jezierski, “and asking them to support Motion-312 is a lot easier than asking them to end abortion.”

She was inspired by a pro-life letter-writing effort by the Teenage Life Club in the United States, a group of high school girls attempting to have one million letters sent to the U.S. government by November in their Stand Up for Life Campaign. 

The second hour of debate on Motion-312 will be held on Sept. 21, the first Friday after Parliament resumes for the fall session. The Letters4Life deadline is Sept. 26, when the vote on Motion-312 is expected to be held.

Woodworth put the private member’s motion forth earlier this year.

“I think that many people think it’s going to solve the abortion question, and it certainly won’t do that,” Woodworth told The Catholic Register.

Motion-312 is meant to create a committee that will focus on scientific evidence and testimony of medical professionals on the development of a child in the womb. For example, “neurologists can testify about the point at which a child’s brain function can be recorded,” said Woodworth. “An anatomist can talk about the development of a child’s organs and limbs before birth.” 

Currently, subsection 223(1) of Canada’s Criminal Code says a child becomes a human being only after birth.

“My goal and deep abiding belief is that no civilized country, including Canada, should tolerate a law like subsection 223(1), which dehumanizes and excludes and condemns any class of person,” Woodworth said.

He had the motion delayed when his mother fell ill last May. “When the vote came up in June, I didn’t feel quite capable of proceeding with the second hour of debate,” he said.

Woodworth’s mother died in late August, but he’s expecting to be able to proceed with the motion as presently scheduled.  

Woodworth is not surprised that youth have supported Motion-312.

“This is an issue which does tend to engage idealism and thank goodness youth possess idealism,” he said.   

Jezierski said the numbers of youth who have rallied behind her campaign is “unbelievable.” She and her peers also host letter-writing parties, where they meet their goal for the event, 100 letters for example, while listening to pro-life music.

There is a core of about 10 Letters4Life members and their main goal is to involve churches and write to bishops. Jezierski cites six bishops as her supporters. Though she is Catholic and so are most of the campaign supporters, she said Letters4Life has multi-faith support.

“I’m grateful for Alexandra’s support and the support of the many thousands of people across Canada who share with me a desire to see an unjust law at least looked at and discussed,” Woodworth said.

However, he does not want to set parameters on the discussion. “I genuinely want people to look at this with open minds and hearts.” 

Whether the motion passes, Woodworth’s advice for Jezierski is, “Canadians at large should understand that no important issue rises or falls on a single vote in the House of Commons.”

In her anti-abortion campaign and in support for Motion-312, Jezierksi has met with hostility online. She said pro-choice supporters threatened her team with “cannibalism and death” over Facebook.

“Unborn children, it’s their lives that we are fighting for, so whatever inconveniences arise, it just makes us more passionate because we know that the unborn children, they’re the most important.”

God is always on time.

Just as I was brainstorming ways to combine three of my career interests — writing, editing and working with youth — The Catholic Register was hiring, and chose me as its new Youth Editor.

As Youth Editor, I look forward to guiding this year’s Youth Speak News team in covering stories and issues that are important to young Catholics and to our wider religious community. This year’s YSN team will strive to be effective communicators on whatever topics they cover because of their willingness to express and improve themselves and engage with their faith.

Catholic-oriented stories are everywhere, ranging from parishes to provinces and beyond. These stories can involve anything, such as faith music, policy, science, dance, business, film, community service and much more.

The Register fosters a partnership of faith and journalism, an unusual combination in the general media.

This will be my first time immersed in a faith-oriented workplace. As a child, however, my parents enrolled me in Catholic schools from pre-school to Grade 12, whether we were living in Boston, the island of Dominica or Toronto. I also spent about seven years as an altar server in the Salesian parish of St. Benedict’s in Etobicoke, Ont.

The Salesians are very youth focussed. I hope a little of that rubbed off on me. Belonging to the Knights of the Altar was an invaluable experience. Even though my only goal at the time was to have fun by volunteering, I have no doubt it encouraged my faith to grow. As I’ve learned from my predecessor, Vanessa Santilli, working for a faith-based publication can do the same.  

I thank Santilli for her work over the last two years as Youth Editor. Her enthusiasm for the position and all that the team has accomplished will continue to inspire me.

My main motivation as Youth Editor is a love of journalism. Journalism is an expression of life: what’s happening and who’s involved. If life is worth living, according to the famous Cardinal Fulton J. Sheen, then journalism is worth doing.

I anticipate a lot of newsworthy activity, especially among young Catholics as parishes prepare for World Youth Day 2013. But youth involvement with the faith is vast and has never been and never will be limited to one week.

In addition to contributing to the newspaper, I encourage the YSN team and our youth readership to think outside the page and contribute to our YSN blog, whether they do so through text or multimedia.

The blog is a great place to experiment, reflect on issues we don’t cover in the paper and expand on stories we do cover. It’s a place to include slideshows, audio, video, timelines and other fun forms of online media.  

I want both the youth section of the paper and the blog to engage and intrigue readers.

If you would like to share your ideas for the YSN section of the paper or the blog, please e-mail me at ruane@catholicregister.org. I would be happy to hear from you.

TORONTO - A Toronto Catholic school board initiative has kids off their couches and away from their computers this summer and has them scrubbing walls, planting flowers and helping out those who need it.

It’s called the Summer Community Service Hours Program — a simple title for a program that’s affect has been anything but.

Anna Paolitto-Primiani from Monsignor Fraser Alternative Secondary School and Linton Soares from Neil McNeil High School are the two teachers in charge. Both have experience helping high school students finish their mandatory 40 service hours before graduation.

This year, Paolitto-Primiani became aware of how many graduating students were getting stuck on their service hour requirements.

“What they do, they stay in their school and ask their teacher, ‘can I help you do this,’ ‘can I stay after school to do that,’ ” she said. “There’s so much more. There are non-profit organizations out there that need another pair of hands or eyes, energy, smiles.”

So the board, Soares and Paolitto-Primiani put together a summer program for these kids to head out to different places around the city to roll up their sleeves and really help. Half of the 30 students that came out weekly spent their days at either the Good Shepherd Centre, an overnight shelter, or the Good Neighbour, a day shelter for homeless people in downtown Toronto. The other half rotated between several organizations including the humane society, a food bank, seniors homes and shelters and transitional homes.

Originally the program was just open to students who needed their 40 service hours, such as Martha Sanusi, from Father Henry Carr Secondary School. She came out to volunteer at the Good Shepherd homeless shelter to complete her hours so she could graduate by January. But in reality, Sanusi has gained so much more.

“I like the opportunity to give a helping hand to the needy,” Sanusi said. “The Lord said do unto others how you want me to do unto you, so I’m living up to that expectation of the Lord.

“It’s also giving me a chance to work with other teens.”

And those other teens are no longer necessarily trying to graduate as soon as possible. Soares and Paolitto-Primiani opened up the program to younger high school students who wanted to get a head start on their hours or just do something productive this summer.

Chelsea Oosthuizen, a Grade 10 student from Notre Dame High School, was in the rotation group. Though many students only stayed for one week, Oosthuizen participated all four weeks, with a goal of getting 100 hours by the time it came to an end.

But in the beginning, she didn’t even want to come out.

“My summer school got cancelled so my mom (told me) I had to do something,” Oosthuizen said. “I started not knowing or believing that I would enjoy this program (but) honestly it’s changed so much.

“As Canadians and as Christians and Catholics we all… have to get out in the community. You always have a purpose to give.”

It’s a sentiment reflected by Aaron Benwic, a Grade 10 student from Marshall McLuhan Secondary School, who wants to continue to volunteer throughout the summer.

“This whole program has been a really great opportunity to … give back to the community,” Benwic said. “I realized that there is, in fact, a need in downtown Toronto.”

Soares and Paolitto-Primiani hope the program can continue next summer.

“It’s a new program, so it’s going to be trial and error,” Paolitto-Primiani said. “But it’s gone really well.”

“The students have loved it,” Soares added. “This was a perfect way for a lot of students to get their foot in the door (to volunteer opportunities).”

Two years can really change a person. Faith-wise, anyway.

During my time as Youth Editor, I have been blessed with the opportunity to go to World Youth Day in Madrid to see the Pope in person. I’ve read YOUCAT: The Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church. I’ve met with a spiritual director a couple times. I even hopped on a plane and travelled to Connecticut for a retreat with the Sisters of Life. But what is more astounding (to me, anyway) is the fact that I now like praise and worship music, even uploading some of these songs onto my iPod.

This is all a pretty big deal for me. I think things started changing after World Youth Day. Being in a climate where everyone was so open about their faith was really strange and amazing. Whereas before that the Catholic and non-Catholic worlds were always separate to me, for once, they were blended together. There was no filter.

I remember throwing around the term “faith journey” now and then over the years, but I don’t think I truly understood the term until this past year, when I was actually actively on one.

To be open to God isn’t an easy task. To have a genuine desire to listen is equally as challenging because it’s easier not to try to listen. But I’ve learned to try to be open, come what may.

My spiritual director shared a Bible verse from Jeremiah with me, and it has given me much food for thought: “I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to give you a future with hope... when you search for me you will find me, if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord.”

This really stuck with me. Once I heard it, I wanted to hear it again. It was encouraging, exciting.

Through covering the Catholic community and getting to know many faith-filled people, I’ve learned a lot. We are the company we keep, after all.

YOUCAT was really helpful, too. Included in our pilgrim backpacks at World Youth Day (although you can buy them at Catholic bookstores, too), sections range from “What We Believe” to “How We Should Pray” to “How We Are to Have Life in Christ.” It has been a great resource for me and helped me to understand the basic tenets of the faith, which I assumed I knew.

The answer to the question, “Why do we need faith and the sacraments in order to live a good, upright life?” is one of the most relatable parts of the book.

“If we were to rely only on ourselves and our own strength, we would not get far in our attempts to be good,” it reads. “Through faith, we discover that we are God’s children and that God makes us strong.”

If I’ve learned one thing, it’s to trust in God. It sounds easy, but it’s surprisingly hard to let go and do. For now, I’ll just keep trying.

Heading to St. Patrick’s Catholic Street Patrol, I was apprehensive.  

The premise of the weekly event is to hand out sandwiches, drinks and snacks to the homeless on the streets of downtown Toronto during the hot summer months.

But the idea isn’t to give some food and move on. It’s to engage the homeless and to offer friendship to those on the outskirts of society.

With whole wheat turkey and mozzarella sandwiches in tow, I joined the group walking to Nathan Phillips Square. Just before reaching our destination, our group leader spotted two men she thought might want a sandwich.

I hung back at first, then joined the group.

A friend and I chatted with Bill for about 10 minutes. He talked about how he worked on the Rogers Centre when it was built (called the SkyDome back then) and how his father just had a big operation.

He told us he’d be going in to the hospital for surgery soon, but he was nervous because he didn’t want to be worked on by the med students.

Bill didn’t want a sandwich, he had just come from the Lawyers Feed the Hungry Program at Osgoode Hall.

As the organizers had told us, many people on the street just want some company. It’s still nourishment, just a different type.

As we entered the main area at Nathan Phillips Square, we encountered a group of about 10 homeless people gathered close together, made up of both men and women.

After giving out one sandwich, others started approaching me asking if they could have one, too. I asked others in the group if they wanted one as well and ran out of sandwiches.

I thought it was going to be an uncomfortable experience, but it wasn’t.

It was just people interacting with other people. I think that’s the best lesson of all. We’re all just fellow members of humanity and regardless of the amount of money to our name, both giving and receiving dignity and respect are priceless. Sure, recipients of Street Patrol gain. But, whether they realize it or not, so do the participants.

Going home that night, I opened the fridge to make a sandwich.

Seeing a variety of cold cuts to choose from, it felt like absolute abundance.

Fittingly enough, my father shared a page from a book he tore out while doing some stonework on an old factory earlier that day. It was a list titled, “Rules for Being Human.”

Bullet two resonated with me: “You are enrolled in full-time informal school called life. Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or think them irrelevant.”

The last statement read, “You will forget this.”

I’ll try my best not to forget what I learned at Street Patrol. And if I do, I can always go back next week.